path on top of grass

Sounds like recipe for stone soup
Dig out sod and topsoil at least.
Maybe the path can help your drainage problems if planned

You would need 1" stone under the 804 for drainage.
I have seen online, a type of plastic grid that's pushed into a lawn. I think it was to be used to park a car on a lawn. Might suit your need. Have a search.
https://www.ecodeck.biz/plastic-grids/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6f-agurD6wIVj-3tCh2i3wnaEAAYASAAEgL3-PD_BwE

If you want to restrict the flow of water of your wet grass patch even more then put the path in. If you want to sort the problem long term, sort drainage first. then do the path. best to start thinking drainage now prior to installing a path over where the drainage needs to go.

A gravel path is a surprisingly large amount of effort to maintain.

Have you considered stepping stones instead? Zero maintenance and looks great.

You could sort out drainage at the same time.

https://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/diy/how-to-lay-stepping-stones/

Isn't 804 designed to compact ? So that's not going to do much to disapate water ,

The cavity crates would be a trip fall hazard. You should use the stone tbh.

Just get the stone delivered and barrow it into the hole.

Digging the hole is the hard bit. Filling it is easy.

RobAMerc wrote: »

does anyone know where to buy perforated drainage pipe in south Dublin ?
I am struggling to find someone who stocks it - I imagined it would be way easier

https://www.landscapedepot.ie/product/yellow-perforated-drainage-pipe/

chooseusername wrote: »

Why would you dig a hole, barrow all the waste away and dispose it,
only to buy stones ,barrow them in and fill the hole .

Soak pit wasn't my idea.

I'm just saying: if you want a soak pit, do it properly with stone not crates.

You never know what someone is going to put on top in future. If you create an underground pit with crates, and then someone builds a treehouse on top....

RobAMerc wrote: »

worryingly - as I look out this morning, my soak pit hole is full and that bit of the garden is like a swimming pool !

I am beginning to think I may need to route the water back up the garden to the house drainage system.

I think a sump pump would be the only option though

Heavy enough rain this morning , but not like absolute torrential. Just consistent.

Its a good guide thought for what your trying to deal with. I think id start with getting the lie of the land (Fall)

multiple drainage intake pipes into a feed to the drainage system though is the most sensible option. Like a E shaped pattern if that makes sense ?

OP how big is your garden, is fixing the general fall of the garden an option, to at least stop pooling?
Are you surrounded by neighbours or what is outside of the garden area?

I've had torrential rain this morning, so I wouldnt use that as a normal test, but it will be interesting to see how quickly it drains for you.

chooseusername wrote: »

Why would you dig a hole, barrow all the waste away and dispose it,
only to buy stones ,barrow them in and fill the hole .
I don't know the void ratio but I'd say a thousand litre hole filled with 20mm. stones
would become an 200 litre hole, or less.

Drainage pipe;
4in. underground waste pipe with slots cut across the top and 3/4 way down
alternative sides about 4 ins. apart laid with the solid strip down,pea shingle,
memblane and topsoil.

Path;
Resin bonded shingle, (Diy pack) on sound base laid to same level as lawn.

Then, after breakfast sit back and appreciate your handiwork!

For drainage pipes you want slits all over them, not just top and sides.

Goes against what you might think, but thats how they work best.

/edit for clarity

If the slits are only on the top and sides then the water level has to reach the top/sides before it will actually drain out. If there are slits all over then water will drain as soon as it reaches the bottom of the pipe.
The water doesnt fall in from above, it seeps in from all over, but mostly up from the bottom as the water level rises.

You can get specific soakaway crates for this purpose. They are designed for this and so have high strength, more than you require really can be used under driveway. Has a quick Google but couldn't see any for sale in Ireland though I'm sure they are.

Pavingexpert.com is a great website with lots of guides on paving and drainage.

listermint wrote: »

Genuine question.

Have you really considered, ditching the grass. Either stone the whole lot and put in a nice granite path or put in artificial grass and putting in a nice path. (some artificial stuff look superb now.

Im solely thinking about the use you and aesthetics you are getting from the grass as it is. alot of effort to solve those drainage issues to support a poor grass finish thats there.

He is still going to have to solve the drainage issue though, even with an artificial surface.

cruizer101 wrote: »

You can get specific soakaway crates for this purpose. They are designed for this and so have high strength, more than you require really can be used under driveway. Has a quick Google but couldn't see any for sale in Ireland though I'm sure they are.

Pavingexpert.com is a great website with lots of guides on paving and drainage.

Yep you deffo can, I had them in my last house (builder supplied though)

Lumen wrote: »

LOL

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin//showthread.php?p=106111861#post106111861

I didnt think that was also true for sharp sand/grit?

Every golf course in the world adds shard sand to every grass covered surface to help with drainage...

RobAMerc wrote: »

I took the advice of a fairly seasoned gardener that a sand topsoilt mix would work.

Based on wvery green in the country being mostly sand based it seemed reasonable.

As I understand it, greens are constructed with a discrete bedding layer of sand under the turf. This is for both drainage and levelling, but has other consequences like making the greens more needy in terms of water and nutrients. That is different from using a sand/soil mixture to do soil structure remediation, which is at least controversial and hasn't worked for you yet.

My experience in this area is limited to my own garden, which has been variously improved and ruined by different strategies employed. The best soil structure I have is in areas with decades of root growth and leaf fall, and the worst is in areas that were covered in weed suppressing plastic.

So IMO aside from physical drainage works e.g. perforated pipe the best approach is to try to work with nature rather than against it, and get as much organic material in as possible by mulching and top dressing.

What depth have you and what is the soil like down there.
If the soil is very pasty, it won't soak enough.

chooseusername wrote: »

It's the old holes up or holes down chestnut.
Holes down will redistribute water before it reaches the soak hole,
especially if laid on shingle.
The slots meanwhile are cut to within an inch of the bottom of the pipe,
allowing water to flow .
Either can be correct depending on the conditions.

The water won't redistribute out the holes, the only way it's getting in is the water level being higher than the pipes.
Why would you ever not want the water getting into the pipe as early as possible?
And the slits are all the way around, top to bottom.

Lumen wrote: »

As I understand it, greens are constructed with a discrete bedding layer of sand under the turf. This is for both drainage and levelling, but has other consequences like making the greens more needy in terms of water and nutrients. That is different from using a sand/soil mixture to do soil structure remediation, which is at least controversial and hasn't worked for you yet.

My experience in this area is limited to my own garden, which has been variously improved and ruined by different strategies employed. The best soil structure I have is in areas with decades of root growth and leaf fall, and the worst is in areas that were covered in weed suppressing plastic.

So IMO aside from physical drainage works e.g. perforated pipe the best approach is to try to work with nature rather than against it, and get as much organic material in as possible by mulching and top dressing.

The sand is used everywhere though.
Multiple times a year they dump tonnes of sand onto the whole course to improve soil quality and drainage.

Lumen wrote: »

Fair point, but that's top-dressing rather than digging in, and I concede there may be benefits of top dressing with sand, but some of them are specific to golf

https://www.usga.org/course-care/regional-updates/southeast-region/the-benefits-of-sand-topdressing.html

"Improved Smoothness – Voids exist within the turf canopy between turfgrass leaves and stems, causing inconsistent ball roll. Sand topdressing helps fill these voids to provide smoother and truer putts."

So filling voids makes golf better but the advice I've heard/read from experienced gardeners (rather than golf course maintainers) is that if you have clay soil you should do everything possible to preserve the voids, e.g. by avoiding working (or even walking on it) when it's wet, as that squeezes out the voids.

If you are going to dig anything in it should be organic matter as that encourages worm activity, the benefits of which outweight the void-squeezing from the digging.

Anyway, it seems like in this case the problem may be a high water table rather than a problem with soil quality.

Yeah they specifically top dress greens for levelness, but they are also dump tonnes of sharp sand/grit onto the fairways to help drainage.
Note that its specifically sharp sand, adding any other type (plasterers or play sand) will indeed create porridge!

For clay you really need to be adding the sand in large enough volumes to change the consistency, if you only add a small amount the benefit of the sand will be far out weighed by the damage caused during the works.
Adding organic matter will also significantly help, as you say due to worms etc.

An easier way to add sand to clay soils is to use an aerator and then add the sharp sand. This creates mini drainage holes and over time/repeated applications will change the soil and hopefully avoid the marsh. It will also help to stop water running over the surface, which it will do on clay.

However if, like it seems the OP has, you have something thats adding water to the site, fixing that should be priority number 1!

RobAMerc wrote: »

as an update - the channel I dug and the soak are still full of water - so soak test is a fail!

The soak test was a complete success, your percolation test however has failed